Principal Becky Jones and Director of Student Social Services Natalina Mariscal will share information with the Board surrounding the tragic murder of 5th grader Rebekah Baptiste and actions the school has taken in pursuit of justice and honoring her life. 

Executive Director Brian Holman will summarize the enrollment status recently emailed to the Board and respond to questions. 

Executive Director Brian Holman will summarize developments over the past 6 weeks related to execution of the Strategic Plan developed last August in pursuit of opening a new school by August 2027. 

Whereas: Empower College Prep's Governing Board has identified both needs in the community for additional values-based, college-prep schools serving low-income communities in Maricopa County, and

Whereas: Empower College Prep's Governing Board has determined the capacity of the team is sufficient to open a new school site to meet this need.

Therefore, let it be resolved that Empower College Prep's Governing Board authorizes the Senior Management Team to submit an amendment to open a new school site under the same charter, ideally serving the Maryvale community. 

In the past month, Empower College Prep has learned one of its students has medical needs that prevent them from attending in-person. The school does have capacity to provide instruction to this student remotely using the Instructional Time Model developed and used for its Extended Campus Model in FY23 and FY24.  

Therefore, we are seeking approval of the Instructional Time Model for FY26.

During the due diligence and planning periods for new school construction, Empower College Prep will have expenses that may be reimbursed through bond financing or other financing for the full construction project. 

The intention for the Reimbursement Resolution is to facilitate the reimbursement of expenses made by the school related to the construction project from funds received at a later time for the construction project. 

Empower College Prep has secured a mutually signed Letter of Intent for a 10-acre property with a 140K square foot building in the target market. The LOI grants Empower College Prep primary position, but two other buyers are seeking ownership of the building, including one who had a prior LOI but stalled during negotiations of the PSA. It is likely Empower College Prep will need to sign the PSA prior to the next Board meeting and begin the due diligence period. 

Therefore, we are seeking conditional approval to sign the PSA upon review and recommendation to sign from a real estate attorney and review and verbal approval by one or more of the Board Officers or members of the Finance Committee for Empower College Prep. Additionally, the Executive Director will present the signed PSA to the full Governing Board for review and potential direction prior to any funds becoming nonrefundable. 

Following the Board Self-Reflection, the members will discuss findings and discuss potential priorities and goals for the upcoming year.